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Eastern Ontario wardens have made a direct appeal to Premier Kathleen Wynne to scrap changes in labour legislation that would cost their municipalities millions of dollars in additional salary costs.

In a letter to the premier, the Eastern Ontario Wardens’ Caucus says the changes in Bill 148 would have a “significant financial impact” on the day-to-day operations of Ontario’s rural municipalities.

In particular, Robert Quaiff, caucus chairman, cites the effect that Bill 148’s on-call and standby provisions might have on fire and emergency services.

For example, the proposed rules requiring employees to be paid a minimum of three hours for 24 hours on call would cost counties more than $10 million annually if the rule were applied to volunteer firefighters, Quaiff said.

Augusta Fire Chief Rob Bowman recently estimated the rule would cost $810,000 to his township alone, more than double his department’s entire budget.

“This is simply unaffordable, and if imposed, municipalities would likely be forced to abandon this service,” said Quaiff in reference to the volunteer fire departments.

The wardens also fear that the on-call and standby provisions might apply to other emergency services, including snow removal, and vastly increase the cost of providing those services.

The big attention-grabbing provision of the Liberal government’s Bill 148 is the proposal to increase the minimum wage to $15 an hour in stages. The wardens say they support a minimum-wage hike, but that they are concerned about other provisions in Bill 148.

For example, the “equal pay for equal work” rules might force municipalities to pay their volunteer firefighters the same hourly rate as full-time counterparts, the wardens fear.

The wardens also are concerned by Bill 148 provisions requiring employers to give four days notice of schedule changes or pay employees three hours of pay in lieu of notice. Employees would have the right to refuse work without the proper notice.

“For essential services, such as winter road maintenance, fire services and long-term care, these provisions could leave municipalities with additional costs and/or a shortage of employees,” the caucus said in a resolution sent to Wynne.

The wardens ask that emergency service employees be exempted from the on-call rules, that the 96-hour rule not apply to municipalities and that the Bill 148 rules would not override municipalities’ obligation to public safety.

The legislature finished its public hearings on Bill 148 last week and the government will announce its proposed amendments this week.